Dancing in the Rain
by Sagashiteru
Summary: Kaneki and Touka muse about the future, sharing each other's warmth in the pouring rain.


_I'm a college student who likes to read, like you could find anywhere… I'm not the protagonist of a novel or anything… but… if, for argument's sake, you were to write a story with me in the lead role, it would be certainly be… a tragedy._

\- Kaneki Ken

The dense gray clouds poured unrelentingly over the city. The song of the rain pelting down upon their garden filled the air, a constant, lulling melody of dying drops of water shattering into a million crystal fragments. The ceaseless downpour was like a hazy curtain hanging over them, its chaos a manifestation of the world outside – a chaos they sat one step away from. It washed the garden mercilessly, beating down drop after drop upon the usually bright green leaves and carefree flowers like a hailstorm of arrows from an impossibly large host – a host their togetherness protected them from.

"Hey, Kaneki?"

"Hm, Touka-chan…?" he said softly, her name sweet upon his tongue.

"Ever thought of having our own coffee shop?"

They sat in the window, just an inch beyond the spray from the rain. She sat in his arms, his legs on either side of her, her back against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her, protectively, possessively, deliciously, her hands gently holding them as they shared the heat of their bodies, the heat of life, the steady beat of his heart against her back calming and reassuring.

"You mean when we're older and…" He faltered, heat rushing up to his face. He looked away, down and toward the rain, feeling his heart rate suddenly skyrocketing and his face burning. "Uh – I mean – "

She rolled her head back onto his shoulder, looking up at him. She wore her usual sullen, broody scowl, but he caught the hint of fondness in her half-lidded eyes. "When we're married. Geez, will you stop blushing?" She took her head off his shoulder and looked ahead. "I mean – Unless… that's not what you want," she said, uncharacteristic uncertainty in her voice.

There was no formal betrothal between them. He'd never proposed – not yet, but ever since they'd confessed and gotten together, it was something they both knew. Neither of them could imagine ever ending up with anybody else.

He brushed her hair out of the way and kissed her nape of her neck, breathing in her scent, trying to root it deep into his chest. "As long as I'm alive, I'll never choose anyone else."

She smiled, her own cheeks reddening slightly. "I love you, Kaneki."

He nuzzled into her neck. "I love you too, Touka-chan."

He loved her. God, he loved her. He'd rather lose everyone else he'd ever known a thousand times over than be separated from her. _This_ was his place, with her. This was where he belonged.

"…So?" she said after a while.

"What?" he said absently.

"What do you think?"

"Oh… Like Anteiku, huh?"

"Mhm."

He laid his head against the wall, looking far into the distance. In his mind he imagined them running a place where people came together, and the scent of fresh coffee. "Wouldn't that be the best thing in the world?" he said.

She couldn't help but giggle softly.

"Hey, Kaneki?"

He felt a small, fond smile creep up to his lips. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to have children?"

He imagined a glinting wedding ring on her finger, with its companion on his, and little kids frolicking in a shop that resembled Anteiku, shrieking in joy. He thought back to his mother, and he felt an ache in his heart as he remembered Rize's words about her. His mother… dead before her time because she couldn't take a stand for her own rights… dead because she cared too much for her useless sister, and not enough for her son.

Then another image replaced it, one so bright it blinded his eyes. It wasn't something he'd ever seen before – in fact, he could hardly make it out because of how brilliantly it shined, but he knew it was precious. The eye of his mind was slow to adjust to something so pure, and it was after a long time that he could make out what was happening.

In this mind he saw Touka, her smile carefree and loving, kneeling down on the floor in front of two children, holding one's hands in her left and brushing the other's hair with her right. It was too beautiful for him to join, too precious – it stood just out of reach of his bloodstained hands, as if there were a barrier separating him from them, a barrier spanning more than physical distance could ever encompass.

"…Yes."

Turning her head around, she looked up at him, a magnificent smile on her face, and suddenly he felt like it was something that should be preserved. Only, how do you preserve something precious? He did not know.

Pulling their bodies closer, she kissed him, her lips soft and gentle against his own, and he felt warmth spread through his body, like a mighty hearth thawing his frozen heart. The kiss left her breathless, but she did not draw away from him, instead resting her forehead against his and sighed contentedly.

It was just like she loved it – just the two of them, in their own little place in the vast world – the two of them, together in each other's arms against the relentless onslaught of the outside world. She loved his arms, loved how natural they felt around her, loved how they carried the promise of _It's going to be okay_. She knew she wanted to be with him forever, together in life, together in death, and together forevermore.

xXx

"A – Ano – excuse me?"

She opened her eyes, and it took her a minute to gather her thoughts. She'd been daydreaming... She wasn't in his arms. No, she was behind the counter, in her coffee shop, and he was on the other side, the counter like the years and dreams that separated them, too large to be overcome in a lifetime. She turned away, hastily wiping her eyes before anyone noticed.

"I'm sorry," she said, taking a deep steadying breath as she turned back, her façade of _I'm okay_ back in place as good as she could get it. "Could you repeat that? I didn't hear you properly."

She wasn't in his arms, and the eyes looking back into hers weren't Kaneki Ken's – no, they belonged to Sasaki Haise, and he had shared no breathless kisses with her in the afternoon rain.

* * *

 ** _please leave a review. i appreciate it more than i can ever put into words._**


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